Tonight I am filled with ineffable sadness. People always talk about “battling depression.” How? Do we punch it in the nose? Break its glass jaw with a hard left? Also I am painting about love and dogs (is there a difference?), making beef stew and sourdough bread, and trying to remember how to blog. I hate January.

Oil on canvas, 5″ x 5″. The dog is imaginary, but I like scruffy looking terrier faced dogs in general- and I think they bear a facial resemblance to some wolf spiders, the teddy bears of the spider world.

The tragic shooting in Tucson has been on my mind a great deal. I watched Obama’s speech and wept. The invocation of “mental illness” and the attitude that this explains it all and we need look no further troubles me. Writing for Slate, Vaughan Bell addresses this issue here.

“…it’s likely that some of the people in your local bar are at greater risk of committing murder than your average person with mental illness.”